Persistence is paying off for Mute Math. Their headlining tour with Eisley is in full swing and their video for the single “Typical,” which features the band playing the song backwards, has gotten over a million views on YouTube (in September, the band even performed a live rendition of the video on “Jimmy Kimmel Live”). We stole a few minutes with Meany between dates on Mute Math’s tour to talk about drivin’ and cryin’ on the road to success.
You guys have been on the road, what, like three years now? What are you listening to on the bus these days?
I’m listening to a lot of the Temptations, actually. Enjoying that stuff. They put out a live record—which reminds me too, we found a live record of Ray Charles that was absolutely incredible. Some of the Carpenters.
Not the picks I would have expected.
Well, what did you expect?
A lot of Beatles, maybe?
Well, Merry Christmas.
The experimental nature of your music comes through even in your lyrics. What’s your process like for writing them?
From my experience, songs really kind of write themselves. It is grueling torture when I try to sit down and force a song out. About whatever. If I want to write something about the environment, or whatever it is…I can’t do that. But when you just kind of get into your subconscious in some way and let music start happening, those lyrics that come out feel the most genuine. And the most natural to sing, actually.
For such a positive band, you guys are almost as likely to break your gear as, say, Trent Reznor. Is it a controlled chaos onstage?
I would like to believe so. Let me just go ahead and say, we’re not an angry band. The things that break are not out of angst; we just tend to get excited. We love what we do, we’re a band that kind of allows ourselves to…I dunno, run free in the moment. Things start happening with the songs, things are clicking. Equipment just tends to break on us sometimes. We like messing with a lot of older equipment, and I’ve gotta be honest with you, it hurts. We’ve shed quite a few tears after some shows, saying, “Man, I wish we hadn’t broken that.” We have come to a place where we’re at least smart enough to realize we need backup on everything. So that helps. But what doesn’t bend will break, and our equipment does tend to do that.
I find it kind of ironic—and hopeful—that even with MySpace marketing and digital music, you see a lot more bands like Mute Math coming into prominence on the strength of their live acts. Do you think that reflects people wanting something they can’t necessarily record? Having somebody that can provide an original experience?
You know, I’m not really sure. The bands that I was obsessed with were the ones that took what was on the record and they just created a whole new experience live. And it didn’t necessarily take away from the record, it just amplified it all. Let it take on a whole new life. I don’t know. That’s always the stuff that’s compelled me, and I think I share that with a lot of guys in the band. When we started making music and performing it live, that was important to us to let that happen, you know. It wasn’t just about recreating the record, but getting in that moment with the audience, that unique experience in that one specific venue and what can happen that night. Whether one is greater than the other, I don’t know.
